


Moonlight

by thanku4urlove



Series: Monsters AU [2]
Category: Hey! Say! JUMP, Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Animal Transformation, Cross-Posted on LiveJournal, First Dates, Fluff, Halloween, M/M, The other members are mentioned but not much, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 05:48:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21248444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thanku4urlove/pseuds/thanku4urlove
Summary: Yamada wants to meet the man that Takaki claims helped save his life almost a year ago. What he didn't expect was for this man to be so handsome, and just maybe, interested in him.





	Moonlight

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween! This oneshot is set in the same AU as my Halloween fic two years ago called Sharehouse of Monsters. That one should probably be read first, or the first like... 1k words are going to be really confusing. But hey, the more spooky creatures the better, right?
> 
> Comments are great, and you can also talk to me on twitter @sudamasochist!

Yamada looked around the dinner table at his housemates, feeling a smile growing on his face. Inoo was telling some tale, some mess he and Takaki and gotten into with a coven of witches over the weekend, his face bright and his movements animated. Hikaru, very clearly amused, had his elbows up on the tabletop and his hands covering his mouth in disbelief at the story, while Daiki and Yabu were openly laughing. Keito had accidentally dropped some food into his lap, and while it was licked up by the tongue that was just barely visible between the sides of his unbuttoned shirt, he was too intent on paying attention to notice. Even Chinen had a small smile on his face. Things were starting to return to normal.

Things hadn’t been normal at the sharehouse for a very long time. A series of attacks had left them all a mess, but they’d pulled through. All of them had pulled through. 

Yamada had recovered first, and even that had taken a long time. He’d been attacked by an Eldritch monster out in the street, long gashes down his side that had left thin but deep scars. At least when he transformed, he was so fluffy that the marks weren’t visible. He’d very nearly died, and doubtlessly would have if Takaki hadn’t found him and carried him home. Yamada was eternally grateful that the attack had happened during a full moon, while he was in wolf form; memories were hazier when he was an animal, things more general and less scary. He still had nightmares about the attack, but at least they weren’t sharp flashbacks. 

The next two life-threatening injuries had happened almost simultaneously. Inoo had been attacked by the same monster that had attacked Yamada, putting himself in danger while trying to save Takaki’s life. His torso had been ripped to ribbons by the monster’s claws, his chest a dark pool of blood. Even with Daiki working his magic--his apparently  _ angelic _ magic--Inoo had barely pulled through the first night, and his recovery had been incredibly hard. 

His chest was now covered in a mess of scars, but thanks to Inoo’s shapeshifting ability, none of them ever saw them. It wasn’t as though Inoo regularly took his shirt off around the house, but any times that it had happened--a memory of Keito hitting Hikaru out of the air with the refrigerator door, Hikaru spilling his cup of blood all over Inoo in the kitchen came to Yamada particularly strongly--his chest had looked completely normal, nothing but a spans of soft pale skin. The only reason Yamada knew there were scars at all was by accidentally running into Inoo in the hallway on the way to the bathroom, Inoo in only a towel and thinking that nobody was home. He’d been so quick in his desperation to cover his mutilated chest that he’d accidentally transfigured his nipples off, something that Yamada had been able to use as a joke to break the tension and diffuse the moment.

Chinen had also been heavily injured the night Inoo had, because he was the monster. There was a beast inside him that he hadn’t been able to control, the thing that attacked Yamada, Takaki, and Inoo. From Yamada’s understanding of the situation, Daiki had been able to intervene at the last moment, calling on forces beyond this world to quite literally blast the abomination out of Chinen’s body. Chinen hadn’t bled at all, but had been left with a black crater at the center of his rib cage. The injury didn’t seem to be a thing that Daiki’s magic could touch; Chinen had recovered very slowly, the blackness fading to be covered with pink and pinched skin, the mark the size of a fist and silk-soft to the touch. 

Chinen had appeared physically well long before Inoo had, but as soon as he was let out of bed, began fainting if on his feet for more than a couple of hours at a time. He’d since regained his strength, but talked even now of an aching pain throughout his body, felt particularly strongly in his joints. This, too, seemed like something Daiki couldn’t fix, and Yamada did sometimes wonder if the chronic joint pain was worth no longer transforming into a monster that tried to kill your friends. 

Because they were friends. They were still friends, despite everything, despite the attacks and the spells and the near-death experiences. They couldn’t fault Chinen for what had happened, for being a test-tube experiment gone wrong--though Takaki did claim to hate his now-deceased father for conducting the experiment, a connection to the situation that was so far out of left field that the discovery of the information had nearly given Yamada whiplash--because Chinen had been unable to contain the Eldritch monster that was fused to his DNA, unable to control it, and unable to remember what happened whenever the monster appeared. It was impossible to see the guilt Chinen had hung around his shoulders and not want to forgive him.

Inoo claimed some responsibility for the incident himself, since he’d been actively attempting to bring the monster out the night it attacked him. He and Chinen, apparently, had talked about it a lot while they were recovering; it wasn’t unusual to go to check on the bedridden pair and find Inoo and Chinen both in Inoo’s bed together, asleep, Chinen pressed to Inoo’s side. 

Yamada, on the other hand, found himself able to relate, able to understand what it felt like to have a beast inside your body that was impossible to control. He’d worked hard for his entire life to get the wolf side of himself under control. He was now able to be sweet and docile, able to recognize friends from enemies and people from prey. It hadn’t always been that way. 

Even Takaki, who they found out the monster inside Chinen had been targeting specifically and attempting to kill, had forgiven Chinen for everything. While he had moved out of the house, now renting an apartment nearby, he still visited often. He had meals with them, or helped repair something around the house, and sometimes spent nights in Inoo’s room. Yamada was pretty sure the two of them were dating, but they’d never specifically confirmed or denied anything, and Yamada felt a little too awkward to ask. 

From what Yamada could tell, Takaki felt pretty comfortable around him, something that he was happy about. Takaki didn’t always look very at ease while in their house, especially around Hikaru--and for some reason, Keito--but had told Yamada that he didn’t feel afraid of him.

“You could have killed me, or turned me, that night I found you.” He’d explained. “Even a normal dog bites when they’re touched by a stranger and they’re in that much pain. But you didn’t. Besides; look at how small and cute you are.” 

Yamada had hit him for that comment, but Takaki had just laughed back. Reminiscing about the night Takaki had saved him was something that Yamada did every once in a while, wanting to understand the entirety of the situation, asking Takaki questions about it. It wasn’t until nearly a year later though, that Takaki divulged an entirely new piece of information. 

“All of you people give me way too much credit.” He was complaining one night, sitting on the couch next to Yamada. “There wouldn’t have been any Yamada left to save if Yuto hadn’t stepped in.” 

“Wait,  _ who?”  _ Yamada asked. 

“Nakajima Yuto.” Takaki said. He began frowning. “Have I never told you about him?” 

Yamada felt that the disbelieving look on his face was answer enough. 

“Yeah!” Takaki said. “I’ve only met up with him a handful of times since, but he’s this Black Shuck--transforms into a crazy huge black dog--that was also there that night. He said he helped fight the monster off before I got to you. He even stopped by the house once while you were recovering; he wanted to make sure that you were okay.” 

The words “black dog” did jog something in Yamada’s memory. He had seen a black dog that night, but it had seemed so inconsequential, and had been so overshadowed by being attacked by the Eldritch only moments later, that he’d all but forgotten about it. 

“And you didn’t think to tell me this until now?”

“It didn’t seem that important!” Takaki protested. “Especially with everything else that’s happened. Besides, it’s not like he and I are friends. I ran him at the coffee shop the other day and we talked for a bit. That happens occasionally, but that’s about it.”

Yamada couldn’t believe this.

“I’ve met him what, twice now?” Inoo asked. He was perched up on the armrest on Takaki’s side of the couch. “Kind of weird. Much nicer the second time.”

“I met him too.” Chinen supplied. “He didn’t like me.”

Yamada gaped around at all of them. “You all know a man that  _ saved my life, _ and none of you thought to mention it to me until now?”

“Hey!  _ Helped _ save your life.” Takaki corrected. “What, do you want to meet him?”

“I should, right?” Yamada asked back. “I should thank him.” 

“Next time I see him, I can talk to him about it.” Takaki offered. “Set up a place and a time. How does that sound?” 

Yamada nodded, thanking him. Despite this, it took nearly three weeks for Takaki to actually follow through, Yamada asking Takaki about it every time he showed up at the house, Takaki saying that he hadn’t seen Yuto around yet. 

“I keep looking, but it’s not like we’re friends.” Takaki would say. “I don’t have his phone number.”

Finally, it happened. 

“Does Thursday morning of next week work for you?” Takaki asked the next time he saw Yamada, before Yamada could even open his mouth. The abrupt words and complete disregard for any kind of greeting were slightly affronting, but to be fair, Yamada had been about to also forgo a greeting and immediately ask about Yuto, so. 

“Yeah, definitely. Where?”

“The coffee shop down the street. Raiju Coffee Cafe. He goes there a lot.” 

“Oh.” Yamada knew the one, but he didn’t stop by much. The bakery down the street had much better scones. “Okay. Yeah. Next week.” 

“Awesome.” Takaki grinned at him. “It’s a date.”

Yamada was sure that Takaki’s wording was just colloquial, but it didn’t help the nerves in his chest when Thursday rolled around. Takaki had said that Yuto was fine and friendly, but Takaki himself was fine and friendly too, and was better at making casual conversation with people than Yamada knew he was. He’d almost considered asking Daiki or Chinen to come with him, but dismissed the idea quickly; he knew this was something he wanted to do on his own. 

Takaki had given him a very brief description of Yuto, Yamada wondering if “tall, black hair, scar” would be enough to identify him in a coffee shop full of strangers, but when he entered the shop, he only saw one man there that matched that description. Still, he felt he couldn’t be sure, walking slowly and sneaking glances in the man’s direction, wondering what he should do, making a mental note to berate Takaki the next time he saw him. Because Takaki had forgotten one very important aspect of his description, short as that description had been. 

He hadn’t mentioned how attractive Yuto was. Yamada was in crisis. 

The man seemed to notice him looking, and within a couple of moments, began walking over. A smile curled his lips the closer he got, and before Yamada could start panicking over it, pointed to him and asked “Yamada, right?” 

Stunned--and very much enjoying the way his name sounded coming out of this man’s mouth--Yamada couldn’t do much more than nod. 

“You--did Takaki tell you what I look like?” He asked. The man--he had to be Yuto, right?--shook his head, his smile getting a little bigger as he looked down at Yamada.  _ Down. _ He was the kind of tall that made Yamada’s knees go embarrassingly weak. 

“No, you just keep staring at me.” 

“Oh.” Yamada felt his cheeks warm up a bit, and Yuto laughed. 

“I’m already sitting over there.” He said, pointing, the gesture vague. “Go get yourself something to drink, if you want.” 

Nodding again, Yamada went up to the counter. There wasn’t much of a line, so Yamada stayed up there, chancing a glance back at Yuto as he waited. Embarrassingly enough, Yuto was already looking his way, giving him a smile and a wave that Yamada returned, and Yuto’s face folded again into gentle laughter. 

Once Yamada had his drink and they were sitting across from each other at the small table and it was time to start talking, Yamada remembered why he was here in the first place. Yuto was simply looking at him, the remnants of a smile still on his face, Yamada fiddling with his cup a bit before he spoke. 

“I wanted to thank you.” He said, looking back up. “For what you did for me. I heard that you checked up on me too, while I was recovering, and that… That was really nice.” 

“I… Well, yeah.” Yuto said, and Yamada was glad to see that it was his turn to look embarrassed. 

“Don’t try to be cool!” Yamada chastised, and Yuto laughed again, Yamada’s heart jumping at the sound, at the accomplishment of making someone he didn’t yet know well laugh. “Seriously, I know how scary that must have been. Even, well,” he took another quick drink of his coffee, “even if that thing did end up being my friend Chinen.” 

“I know.” Yuto said after a moment. 

“Takaki told you?” 

“I told him.” Yuto shrugged a little. “I saw the whole thing, so I knew. It took a bit for him to believe me, though. I was surprised when he told me what happened. He’s really loyal, huh?”

“Yeah, he’s kind of stupid like that.” Yamada said with a nod, and Yuto laughed again. They stayed and talked until their drinks were gone, Yamada finding Yuto unexpectedly friendly and fun to talk to. He began feeling hungry but shoved the feeling down, not wanting to leave, not wanting the conversation to end. But his body wouldn’t listen, and an embarrassing stomach grumble got Yuto’s attention. Yamada thought at first that the sound would be quiet enough, but remembered only after Yuto raised an eyebrow at him that Yuto was part dog, and his hearing was probably pretty good. 

“Are you hungry?” He asked, Yamada nodding. He hadn’t eaten much breakfast, and hadn’t gotten any food here, not when he knew of other places with much better scones and muffins just down the street. He told Yuto so, who immediately began to grin, his posture straightening in excitement. 

“Let’s go!” He exclaimed. As in, both of them. Together. 

“Yeah, sure.” 

Their cups were thrown away and they were down the street, Yamada leading the way to his favorite bakery. They got the pastries to go and opted instead to eat them while walking around, Yuto exclaiming almost as soon as he bit into his about how good it was. 

“I’ve managed to make some like this at home before.” Yamada told him, biting into his strawberry scone. “They weren’t quite the same, but the taste was pretty close.”

“You’re kidding me. You can cook like this?” Yuto asked. The amazement had Yamada smiling hard at his shoes.

“My dad is a chef, so that helped, but most of it was practice from necessity. I used to have an apartment with my friend Daiki, and he’s a nightmare in the kitchen. When we team up though, we can usually make something pretty good.” 

“There’s no way!” Yuto waved his empty napkin in Yamada’s face, making him laugh and swat it away. The pastry was already gone. “You can’t cook this well. I won’t believe it until I taste it.”

“You’ll just have to come over for dinner, then.” 

“Maybe I will.” Yuto huffed, and stuffy act only lasted until Yuto glanced down at Yamada, saw the deadpan look he was being given, and burst into laughter. 

Yuto laughed a lot, Yamada was coming to learn. It was unexpected, from what Takaki had told him about Yuto, but Yamada loved it. His eyes got smaller in amusement, his mouth open and enthusiastic and happy, the skin pulling a little around the edges of his scar. 

Yuto had a large scar on his face, starting on the left side of his top lip, stretching to his cheekbone across the side of his face. It didn’t seem to bother Yuto at all, and while it was eye-catching, after about an hour of walking around together and talking, all Yamada wanted to do was take Yuto’s face and trail kisses over it to where it ended at the base of Yuto’s ear. 

Yuto didn’t make any statements about parting ways, either from wanting or needing to go, and Yamada didn’t want him to, so they ended up going down shopping streets together, half actually looking at items and half telling stories about their surroundings if they had something to say. Watching Yuto tell a story was fun, because most of them were amusing, and half of them were something Yuto himself thought so funny that he occasionally had a hard time getting words out, which made Yamada laugh despite himself. 

Telling a story to Yuto was nice too, because Yamada felt so seen and so heard that it was sometimes hard to focus on his words, Yuto’s attention on him absolute, so much so that at one point Yuto almost ran into someone and Yamada had to tug him out of the way. 

Not that Yuto was the only distracted one. A quick turn around a corner without looking where he was going had Yamada almost running square into a pixie, Yuto grabbing Yamada by the arm and pulling him close to avoid a collision. Yamada leaned against him for a moment, flustered and thankful all at once. 

“You okay?” Yuto asked him, taking a step away from him, one hand still on Yamada’s shoulder. 

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks.” Yamada was grateful he’d been pulled; knocking down a pixie was a good way to get cursed, no matter how accidental it was or how apologetic you were about it, and Yamada wasn’t keen on spending the next two weeks uncontrollably sneezing or something. 

“Good.” Yuto declared, letting his hand slide down Yamada’s arm. It lingered on his wrist for a moment, hesitant, so Yamada finished the gesture, sliding his hand up into Yuto’s and lacing their fingers together. He’d been unsure of just how flirtatious the offhand compliments and teasing had been, but when he looked up at Yuto and saw him beaming, just gave Yuto’s hand a squeeze. 

They couldn’t stay out forever though, and after a couple of hours, Yuto offered to walk Yamada home. He seemed to already know the way but let Yamada direct him anyway, coming to a stop in front of the sharehouse. 

“When can I see you again?” Yuto asked. The implications of the question were obvious, with the squeeze on his hand as he spoke, and a happy excitement flooded Yamada’s chest. Yuto wanted to see him again. Yuto… Yuto  _ liked  _ him. “Same time next week, maybe?”

At that, Yamada faltered. He wanted to see Yuto again too, he really, really did, but next week was a full moon. Transforming took a lot out of him; for days after a full moon, Yamada had a hard time dragging himself out of bed for anything more than food or bathroom breaks. Going on a date would be impossible. 

“Unless, unless you don’t want…” Yuto was completely misreading his reluctance, his voice soft, beginning to draw away. Yamada tightened his grip on his fingers, wanting to dispel that quickly.

“I do!” He said. “I do, really, it’s just… Next week.” 

“Next week?”

“It’s a full moon.” 

“Oh.” Yuto looked put out for just a moment before his face lit up. “I could transform with you!” 

The offer took Yamada completely off guard.

“What?” He knew a little about what Yuto could do, but he didn’t think that Yuto’s transformations were time-dictated like his were. “Do you have to?” 

“Well no, but it could be fun, right?” Yuto was considerably excited about the idea; Yamada could almost see a tail wagging. “I could meet you here. What do you think?” 

Yamada had transformed with people before, but they were all fellow werewolves, so it was easy to fall into a pack, and to all get along. This would be different. But still, he thought; it could be fun. 

“Sure. Yeah, okay.” 

“So here, next week?” 

“Yup. As soon as the moon is up.” 

Yuto was beaming. “Can’t wait.”

Yamada received a considerable amount of teasing when he got home for just how much he liked Yuto--especially since Hikaru had looked out the window and had seen them holding hands in front of the house--but Yamada was too happy to care. It had been a long time since Yamada had even given a person a second glance, let alone had affectionate-- _ romantic-- _ feelings for them, and he was almost giddy with it. He usually dreaded full moons, the transformation so time consuming, disruptive, and exhausting, but for the first time in his life, this was one he was looking forward to. 

The entire day of the full moon there was a tug in his bones, a distraction, an agitation. He couldn’t sit still but pacing felt useless, and he was able to feel it more than see it when the sun went down. 

The transformation hurt. It always hurt. He laid there for a few moments after it was done, panting, using his nose to adjust to his surroundings. He was at home, the smells overwhelmingly familiar and furniture pushed up against the walls, taking it all in and focused completely on breathing until he felt he could move. He rolled upright, got his feet under him, and stood. 

A voice--a human voice--had Yamada turning his head. As soon as he saw the source he felt his tail begin to wag; it was his favorite person, touching the door and talking to him. Out of all of it Yamada understood “outside”, and he liked outside very much, making sure to lick the almost-human’s face a couple of times before he made it out the door and into the night. 

Being under the light of the moon was reinvigorating. He felt the ache in his bones fade as the moonlight streamed down on him, silvery and exhilarating, and his legs broke out into a run, his tail high. 

An unfamiliar smell stopped him in his tracks, dirt under his claws, his nose in the air. It wasn’t human--it didn’t smell like food--and it wasn’t almost-human either, like many of the smells in his house were. It was another animal. 

A figure emerged from the trees, black as night, its fur shimmering with grey shine from the moonlight. It had one eye wide open, orange and bright, the other closed over by a jagged scar that cut through the dark hair. Its body language was open, curious and friendly, Yamada leading with his nose as he approached. The closer he got, the more he realized that this creature smelled familiar, though he didn’t know why; he didn’t think he’d met this almost-dog before. But that didn’t seem to matter, the dog play-bowing in his direction. 

Feeling happy, excitable, and energetic, Yamada bowed back. Letting out an enthusiastic bark, the dog jumped at him, and they began to wrestle in the grass. They played and rolled around, spending the night chasing each other and exploring the nearby woods. Yamada knew the area well but it was evident that the other dog didn’t, approaching everything with an eager curiosity. They hunted a bit; Yamada was very hungry, but had trained himself well enough to stay in the woods and away from any humans. The dog seemed very aware of this as well, skirting around the edges of the trees as though to keep Yamada from going past him and out into the street. 

By the time the moon began to sink and the sky went from black to a haze of blue-grey, Yamada was exhausted from a night of play. He started a path home, the dog by his side. He could feel it again, the transformation starting, growing pains shooting up and down his joints as he walked. There was a familiar blue blanket laid out by the back door of the sharehouse, Yamada not even caring about the dog’s watching eye as he laid down on it like he’d trained himself to do, catching the corner of it in his teeth and rolling it over his body. He was very tired now, so tired that he couldn’t keep his eyes open. The last thing he heard was the back door to the sharehouse open, and he fell asleep.

  
  


Yamada could tell by the angle of the sun through his bedroom window that he’d slept in late. He was in very comfortable pajamas, and he didn’t feel all that disgusting; Daiki must have helped him wash his face and brush his teeth before putting him to bed. He was hungry, but not so hungry that it was worth getting out of bed, ready to let out a shout when there was a gentle knock on his bedroom door. 

“Come in!” He said, trying to sit up and wipe the sleep from his eyes--his arms felt heavy, wanting nothing more than to sink back into his warm blankets--when Yuto walked through the door, a tray in his hands. 

That had him scrambling into a sitting position, trying to wrangle his hair into something presentable, and Yuto laughed a little. 

“Good morning. Don’t worry about your hair; you look cute. Hungry?”

“Starving.” Yamada accepted the food, watching Yuto collapse into the chair next to his bed. Upon closer inspection, he saw that Yuto looked tired. “Is it still morning?”

“Just barely. You slept well.” Yuto almost didn’t finish his words, a yawn cutting him off, and he stretched his arms up over his head. “So did I. Daiki was kind and let me sleep when I ended up dozing off on the couch downstairs.” 

“Oh? You spent the night here?”

“Yeah. I wanted to see you off to bed, but I didn’t quite make it up the stairs.” He offered up an embarrassed grin. “Not the best date, huh?” 

Date. Had last night counted as a date? Yamada remembered some of it, most of it a blur of happy excitement. 

“I mean, I had a really great time.” Yamada told him honestly. “That’s the best transformation I’ve had in… A long time, really.”

“It was?” A smile split Yuto’s face. “Good, good. I’m glad.” 

Yuto looked ready to fall asleep sitting up, Yamada giving him a frown. 

“Are you sure you slept well?”

“I did! But Inoo woke me up. Gave me your breakfast and told me to make myself useful.”

Yamada had to laugh at that. “That sounds like Inoo.” He said. He deemed the half-eaten breakfast eaten enough, moving the tray to the other side of his bed on the floor and holding his arms out in Yuto’s direction. “Come here.”

“What?” Yuto looked taken aback, but Yamada didn’t lower his hands. 

“You look exhausted. Come sleep.”

“Are you sure?” He asked, but he was already getting up, and Yamada smiled. 

“Yeah. I’m sure.” 

Yuto slid into the blankets with him, and he was so warm that Yamada couldn’t help himself, snuggling close. Yuto laughed, resting an arm over Yamada. 

“Does napping together count as a date?” Yamada couldn’t help but ask. 

“I think it depends on whether there’s a kiss or not.” 

Maybe it was how tired he was, and maybe it was how close they were, but Yamada didn’t feel very nervous anymore. 

“Well, maybe I want this to be a date.” He said, and Yuto laughed again, this laugh soft and deeper, close to his chest. He leaned in, Yamada letting his eyes close, feeling Yuto’s lips place a gentle kiss to his forehead. It was so gentle and so cute that Yamada couldn’t stop smiling, pressing closer, pushing his face into Yuto’s chest. 

“I really like you.” He mumbled into Yuto’s shirt, only half expecting him to hear. And he only half heard, pulling back to look at Yamada. 

“What was that?”

“Shut up.”

“I actually didn’t hear you!”

“You did! You just want to embarrass me.” 

Yuto was pouting at him, and it should have been annoying, but it was just cute instead. 

“I said I really like you.” Yamada repeated, and before Yuto could say anything else, pressed a kiss to his lips. He pulled back to press himself into Yuto’s chest again, Yuto wrapping him up and pulling him close, an unmistakable smile in Yuto’s words as he answered. 

“I really, really like you too.” 


End file.
